Oil on canvas, 40" x 30”

A museum copy of Marie-Guillemine Benoist’s Portrait of Madeleine (formerly known as Portrait d'une négresse), which currently hangs in the Louver. Originally painted in 1800. Six years previously, slavery had been abolished, and this image became a symbol for women's emancipation and black people's rights. The picture was acquired by Louis XVIII for France in 1818.